


Off Limits

by Peregrine



Series: Broken Glass and Porcelain [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 09:39:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16302728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peregrine/pseuds/Peregrine
Summary: An exploration of Hope's complicated feelings for Lightning.





	Off Limits

**Author's Note:**

> Writing 9S and 2B has just been making me want to write Hoperai too. This is sort of a sequel to my previous fic, Cute Eyes. Like my other fic, this diverges from in game canon.

Hope sighed and sunk into his chair, exhaustion overtaking him. It had been a long night at the ER. First there had been the old man with the broken hip. Then the child that had been bitten by a snake. Then a couple of guys who'd been involved in a behemoth mauling. This, together with a seasonal flu panic, had kept Hope up all night seeing an treating patients. It was only now with the morning staff arriving that he'd managed to get a break.

He was near the point of exhaustion. In the old world, the world of cocoon, he would have had to go to a fancy medical school and get some sort of degree before he could call himself a nurse. In this world, however, at the age of 19, he now had several years of field experience under his belt. He'd started out studying medicine under a mentor at 16. AT 17, he'd started helping with patient treatment.

It was definitely not where he'd imagined his life going at 14. But he'd fallen into the rhythm of things at the hospital. What had started out as a makeshift medical tent was now a full fledged medical facility. And he was proud of his work, proud of the patients he'd been able to help.

“Mr. Estheim?”

Hope stirred out of his reverie as a head poked onto the room.

“Dr. Beaumont,” Hope said, rising his head to greet his superior.

“There's someone at the front desk whose asking for you. Goes by the name Farron.”

Hope's heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be...

Yet as he came downstairs to the lobby, he was met by the sight of those familiar, piercing, icy blue eyes.

“Lightning!” he said. He couldn't stop himself. He threw himself at her, embracing her in a hug. There was an “oomph” sound from Lightning and he laughed, his platinum blond hair falling over his eyes.

“Hope, relax. It's just me,” she said after a moment, her arms slowly coming up to return him embrace.

“I'm sorry, Lightning,” Hope said and he couldn't help but laugh. For a moment it felt like old times. She was wearing a uniform not so dissimilar to the one she wore when they first embraced all those years ago. Again he was a boy, shocked but eager for her attention. Yet the feeling quickly faded and he was back in the hospital, exhausted from a night of work and standing in front of an equally exhausted looking Lightning.

“Why are you here?” he asked when he pulled away, tilting his head at her.

“Sarah asked me to come see you. Said she was worried about you.” Lightning cupped Hope's chin in her hand and studied his face for a moment. “I can see why.”

Hope couldn't help but flush slightly at the hand under his chin. “I'm okay, Lightning,” he tried to reassure her. “Anyway, i'm not the only one whose sleep deprived, judging by your face.” He sighed. “You've been gone a long time.”

“Two months,” Lightning said.

“Two months and you didn't send me a single post card,” Hope said, pouting visibly at her.

Lightning smiled and gave his shoulder a gentle punch. “I guess we have some catching up to do.”

* * *

Hope turned on the lights as he entered his apartment. Behind him, Lightning carried a bag of groceries through the door. It was only 8:30, yet the apartment was bathed in a warm glow of light from the rising sun. Hope quickly apologized for the mess that was his apartment and moved to pick a pair of socks up off the floor. Lightning only hummed in response, putting the bag of groceries down on the counter.

After a little bit of cleaning and a little bit of chopping, Hope was standing in the kitchen, lightly flicking a skillet as a mix of chicken and vegetables cooked inside it.

“Forgive my manner,” Hope said, realizing that Lightning had been sitting in his house for nearly 15 minutes he hadn't even offered her a drink. “Is there anything I can get you, Light?”

“That's okay,” she said, her hands moving across the counter with a cloth as she wiped down all the stains. It wasn't a big kitchen, or a big apartment for that matter. But it seemed to be enough for him.

“Soo....” Hope said, flipping the vegetables in the pan. “Why were you gone so long?”

“You know I can't tell you that,” she said, carefully examining the counter top.

“Okay, so it's confidential and all.”

“It's a client privacy thing,” she said. Lightning had been weary about working for any government since The Purge. But that didn't stop her from working private contracts with any individual who could afford her protection. And as it turned out, working as a private body guard was a lot more profitable than government work; especially since many still saw her as a pulse l'Cie and feared what she could do to them.

“So... you're keeping me in the dark again?” Hope said, frown lines appearing on his face.

“Yes,” Lightning said, moving to drape the rag over the side of the sink.

“I only ask because I worry about you, Light.” He gave the vegetables another flip, his eyes following her as she moved across the kitchen.

“Careful,” Lightning said and Hope gave a soft yelp as he looked back and saw that some of his vegetables were now on the burner.

“Ah...sorry,” he said, picking the vegetables off the stove with his bare hands, yelping again when he felt a burning sensation against his finger.

“Hope, don't do that,” Lightning said, watching as he ran to turn on the sink, placing his burnt finger below the running water.

“Sorry,” Hope said, lowering his head over the sink.

“For what? Burning yourself?” Lightning sighed and took over the cooking. “You don't have to apologize for that.”

“I know, I just...” his face heated up.

Lightning glanced him over for a moment before turning off the stove and walking over to him. Reaching down, she gently took hold of his hand, examining the finger under the spray.

“L-light!” Hope said, surprised by the sudden touch.

“I'm just looking,” Lightning said.

Hope watched her, visibly flustered. “You know i'm not a kid anymore, right? I'm a medical professional! I know what I'm doing.”

Lightning let go of his hand, frowning at him. “You put your hand on a burner,” she finally said. “You call that professional?”

“Okay...yeah...I guess that wasn't so smart.” Hope puffed up his cheeks and Lightning reached over and ruffled his hair.

“I'll get the first aid kit,” she said.

“Don't forget the burn cream,” Hope told her as she made her way over to the bathroom.

When she came back, she was holding a whole bunch of supplies. “Which one is the burn cream?” she asked, dumping it all on the table and going over it.

Hope left the sink and went over to sit at the table. When he tried to reach for the burn cream, however, she gently slapped his hand away. “No. Let me do it,” she said.

Hope bit his bottom lip but obeyed. He watched as Lightning dried his hand. Once that was done, she grabbed the tube and squirted the contents onto the tip of Hopes finger. Hope was surprised by just how careful the motion was.

“Lightning...why are you taking care of me like this?” he asked.

Lightning seemed taken aback by the question for a moment. “Because you bandaged me up last time,” she finally said.

Hope opened his mouth like he had something to say and then closed it. He remembered. It had been when Lightning had punched a wall to deal with menstrual pain. “Thank...” he said softly, watching as she took out a band aid and wrapped it around the tip of his finger. She inspected her work for a few moments before deciding it was satisfactory. “You stay here,” she said and she went to his cupboard, pulling out a bottle of wine and several jars that Hope used as glasses.

“Whoa, Lightning. Drinking? This early in the morning?”

“Do you want a glass?” she asked, looking back at him.

“Yeah...but let's finish the stir fry first,” Hope said, giving her a cheeky grin.

* * *

It wasn't long before the wine had loosened up their tongues and the two were reminiscing about old times.

“Remember how drunk Snow got at his own wedding reception?” Hope asked, laughing at the memory.

“You got drunk too,” Lightning said.

“Okay but it was my first time drinking.”

She snorted. “I told you not to, Hope. I told you not to and you did it anyways. Then you threw up all over my sofa.”

“This isn't fair,” Hope whined. “I was talking about Snow, not me.”

“You both were acting like drunken idiots,” Lightning said.

“Okay, fair.” Hope said, putting down his wine. “But you remember him trying to do a keg stand, right? Like it was still his bachelor party. And Sarah was just standing there laughing at it the whole time. It's like the two of them were made for each other.”

“Yes, I remember,” Lightning said, wrinkling her nose. “I was hoping maybe she'd talk him out of some of his more impulsive behaviors when they were married. But no. She only seemed to encourage it.”

“You have to admit though, he has settled down since they had their kid.”

“My niece? Yeah. I've been trying to leave a better impression on her then her father. I'm not sure how well that's been working out. The last time I saw her, she was swinging around a toy sword and talking about becoming a hero.”

“Yeah but, I mean, isn't that kind of what you're like?” Hope pointed out, a laugh escaping from between his lips.

“I'm not like that,” Light said, her face going red.

“Yeah but you have to admit, you're strong and you know how to fight. And you were the one that lead us all through the hell of being a l'Cie.” Hope grinned. “But the whole hero thing? She definitely got the from Snow. He does have a penchant for dramatics.”

Lightning snorted into the wine she was sipping, unable to hold back her own laughter. “He has a penchant for being obnoxious,” she said.

“Okay, he has that too,” Hope said. He found himself leaning his head against the side of his couch as he looked at her. He couldn't help but notice the way her face scrunched up when she laughed. There was something cute about it, though Hope couldn't quite figure out why. “You know, I like when you laugh, Lightning,” he said, smiling at her.

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that what you say to all the girls?”

Hopes face went bright red. “I only say it because it's true.” He scooted closer to her. “Would you prefer if I didn't?” For some reason, the thought that Lightning didn't like his compliments brought a twinge of sadness to his stomach.

Lightning rolled her eyes. “Goddesses, Hope, I'm not going to punch you for flirting with me, if that's what you're worried about.”

Hope's heart nearly lurched to a stop at her words. It was the last thing he'd expected to hear from Lightning. Yet it brought to the surface something he'd attempted to bury away a long, long time ago.

' _Lightning is off limits,'_ he reminded himself, words that he'd taken to heart at the tender age of 15.

It had been strange, realizing all those years ago that he'd been harboring a crush on the older woman. Even weirder considering that she had become like a mother figure to him. He hadn't wanted to entertain the thought; He hadn't wanted to examine how fucked up that was or what it meant about him. But, suddenly, it was all out in the open again.

Hope laughed nervously, trying to push back the turmoil of emotion that was raging inside him. “Maybe you should lay off the wine,” he said. He was certain Lightning would never have brought it up if she had been sober.

Lightning seemed to sense that something was wrong with Hope for she nodded and put down the glass. “Yeah...both of us should probably lay off.” She reached over and took the wine glass from Hopes hand. For a moment her hand touched his and a jolt of warmth ran up his arm and filled his chest.

“You look exhausted, Light,” he said. “Maybe you should get some sleep.”

“You should get some sleep,” Lightning responded, her eyes scanning over him. “You look like a Cie'th.”

“Yeah...probably,” Hope agreed, rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

 

Hope wasn't entirely sure when he'd fallen asleep. But his wrist watch was going off like mad. Groaning, he turned over and held it up to take a look. The time read 2:30. Under the time was the reason for the alarm: “Shift – 1 hour.”

Hope bumbled out of his room and into the bathroom, turning on the shower and waiting for the water to heat up. Once it was at a tolerable temperature, he stripped himself of his clothing and got in, enjoying the heat of the spray on his back. Showers were always a time to relax for him. He kept them short – 10-15 minutes. It wasn't like there was an unlimited supply of hot water in New Bodhum. But it was a little slice of heaven for him.

Once out of the shower, he scrambled around for his scrubs and pulled them on before heading out to the living room. He figured if he got out early enough, he'd have some time to stop at the local cafe, sit down, and drink a little coffee before his shift. As he came out into the living room, he was met with a surprising sight: Lightning laying on his couch, her fingers scrunched around the pillow under her. She appeared to be fast asleep. Hope couldn't help but wonder why she'd stay and sleep on his couch. He thought she'd left after he went to bed. Yet here she was, fast asleep with an empty glass of wine sitting on his coffee table.

“Light,” Hope murmur, staring down at her. He noticed she had no blanket so he fetched one from the linen closet, careful not to wake her as he tucked it around her. For a moment, he simply watched her. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, her hair falling around her face in an uneven pattern. She looked more at peace then he'd ever seen her in her life.

Leaning down, he took a deep breath before pressing a quick peck to her forehead. Lightning exhaled softly and Hope found his face heating up as the air tickled his cheeks.

“Sleep well, Light,” he whispered. With that, he turned off the lights and left for that afternoon cup of coffee.

 


End file.
